It is the purpose of this project to study the nature and rate of aqueous humor formation, its composition, modifications in the eye, role of nutrition of ocular structures, ease of exit from the eye, and the relationship between these and such ocular disorders as glaucoma, cataract and diseases of the cornea, vitreous, retina and optic nerve. Particular attention is to be placed on alterations induced by pharmacologic and endocrine means in order to provide more fundamental information about the control of intraocular pressure and its effect on ocular structure and function. The recent discovery that glaucoma patients demonstrate increased sensitivity to corticosteroids at ocular, systemic and cellular levels suggests the future direction of our research. We will search for the mechanisms of these differences from normal at various metabolic sites in lymphocytes and fibroblasts such as corticosteroid binding receptors, cyclase nucleotide formation and degradation and transport processes. At the same time, we will develop the background for the normal roles of these parameters in various ocular tissues as well as the effects induced by drugs or disease. Transport studies, using both in vivo and in vitro techniques, will be carried out emphasizing the role of cytosol receptors and cyclic nucleotide alterations in normal eyes and those subjected to pharmacologic and pathologic stimuli. Correlative measurements of aqueous humor dynamics will be made. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Waltman, S.R., Palmberg, P.F., Newton, Wm., and Becker, B.: Glaucoma and HL-A Antigens. The Lancet, April 19, 1975. Cantrill, H.L., Waltman, S. R., Palmberg, P.F., Zink, H.A. and Becker B.: In Vitro Determinatin of Relative Corticosteroid Potency. Journal of C1. Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol. 40, No. 6, pp 1073-1077, 1975.